Grilling Recipes From Across the Globe

Americans argue about few things more fervently or more frequently than barbecue: pork ribs versus beef, charcoal versus gas, dry rub versus sauce, east Texas's chopped, pecan-smoked brisket versus the hickory-char variety from Kansas City. But in all that haggling over ingredients, technique, and regional variations, we rarely stop to peer beyond our own borders and see what the rest of the world is throwing on their grills. And that's a pity, because the word "barbecue" isn't even American – "barbacoa" comes from an indigenous Caribbean language predating the birth of our nation, and the practice of cooking protein over a flame is far older than that.

As Chinese chef Martin Yan, host of the long-running show Yan Can Cook, once put it, "Man discovered fire. Five minutes later, he invented barbecue." And since then, we've developed as many distinct ways of grilling as languages – from Asia to Africa, Australia, South America, and the Caribbean – and each has undeniable merits of mixing up smoke, meat, sugar, and spice. Contemporary Korean barbecue, for example, taking its cues from the court culture of the Choson Dynasty, elevates short ribs – a cheap braising cut in the West – to the height of grilling luxury by way of clever butchery. Jamaicans have transformed chicken, that most basic of birds, into a national dish and international sensation through the generous application of an herb rub that could only have emerged from one of the most spice-rich rain forests on the planet.

Even with the most seemingly American cut of meat – the big, juicy steak – it turns out that our fast-and-hot sear isn't the only path to glory. Way down in pasture-rich Argentina, where they eat 118 pounds of beef per person, per year – nearly all of it grass-fed – weekend asados, or barbecues, revolve around pure, unadulterated beef, cooked low and slow to a decidedly un-American medium well, to bring out the meat's strongest flavors. And the old fishing cultures of western Europe, from southern France to Portugal, have pulled off the most inventive grilling trick of all: making fresh, whole sardines truly fun to eat.

So before you grill locally, think globally. Who knows? You might go all summer without buying a bottle of barbecue sauce. Launch Gallery >>